Ball batting aids having a ball secured to the end of an elongated rope have been used in training ball players for many years. One player places the rope into the hands and then twirls the ball around the head gradually playing out more rope until the ball approaches a plate at which another ball player is standing with a ball bat. It is the object of the player with the bat to strike the ball as it passes over the plate. The ball player twirling the ball can control the angle at which the ball approaches the plate to give the batter a variety of different types of ball movements. Further, the task of fielding a hit ball by a group of fielders is entirely eliminated.
It has been a problem to affix the ball to the rope in a safe and secure manner. One such attempt included the placement of an eye-bolt in a hole extending through the ball. The eye-bolt structure projected beyond the outer surface of the ball and did damage to the bat when it struck the ball. Thus, this structure proved to be an undesirable structure to use on a repeated basis. Another effort was made to secure the rope to the ball by drilling a hole through the ball, threading the rope into the hole and then driving fasteners into the ball at various angles through the rope to hold the rope inside the ball. This structure also proved disadvantageous for after many strikings of the ball by a bat, the connection of the ball to the rope loosened. Further, the hole through the central portion of the ball had a tendency to lessen its resilient characteristic over a prolonged period of time.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a ball batting aid comprising a ball fastened to an elongated strand of rope wherein the structure for fastening the ball to the rope is secure and durable and does not lessen the resilient characteristic of the ball after prolonged uses thereof.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a ball batting aid, as aforesaid, wherein the rope is braided and the elastomeric material of the ball is an elastomeric which permeates the space between the braids inside the ball to effect a permanent and secure fastening of the ball to the rope.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a ball batting aid, as aforesaid, wherein during the process of making the ball and effecting a fastening of the rope thereto, the elastomeric material of the ball is permitted to permeate the braids of the rope as well as along a portion of the rope external of the ball so that the region of the rope immediately adjacent the peripheral surface of the ball is strengthened to thereby endure a particular stress on the rope at the point it enters the ball.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a ball batting aid, as aforesaid, wherein during the process of making the ball and effecting a fastening of the rope thereto, the amount of the expandable elastomeric material and catalyst therefor are precisely controlled to take into account the presence of the rope material within the mold and the space between the braids so that an air pocket is not formed inside the ball and, at the same time, excessive material is not permitted to squirt out through the opening in the mold through which the rope extends.